MARKET PREVIEW: Techs look to rally

The certification of George Bush as the winner of Florida's 25 electoral college votes and a positive futures outlook have Wall Street set to open higher. Asian and European markets gained back lost ground, and the Dow is set to open higher.

U.S.

After three weeks of stalemate, Florida's Secretary of State certified Texas Gov. George W. Bush the victor in the state by a margin of 537 votes. Although Democrat Al Gore has said he will fight the declaration in court, U.S. futures rose on the Bush certification news and have the markets set to open in positive territory.

Internet incubator CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI) should see action in today's session. The stock looks to build on Friday's rally, buoyed by positive reviews from analysts.

Hewlett-Packard Co. spinoff Agilent (NYSE: A) should also attract attention as it announced it will purchase Objective Systems Integrators Inc.

Expect the following technology stocks to be among Monday's most actively traded issues: AT&T (NYSE: T), CMGI (Nasdaq: CMGI), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT).

Tech stocks rose in the abbreviated session Friday as the Nasdaq composite closed up 149.04 to 2,904.38. The Dow Jones industrial average ended the session up 70.91 to 10,470.23.

At the Bell

The Dow Jones industrial average is expected to open up 115 points. The Standard & Poor's 500 index for November futures contracts was up 14.9 to 1,361.50 at 7:24 a.m. EST in 24-hour electronic trading.

The Inter@ctive Week @Net Index rose 23 to 353.32.

Asia

Asian markets were mostly up. The Nikkei 225 gained 405.04 to 14,720.39 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 225.86 to 14,602.76. Singapore's Strait Times index, however, slipped 4.84 to 1,979.52.

Europe

European markets were all in positive territory. London's FTSE 100 gained 58.9 to 6,386.50, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 74.82 to 6,220.47 and the DAX in Frankfurt rose 117.24 to 6,781.42.at 7:12 a.m. EST.

Reuters contributed to this report.